Within the past week, Senate President pro Tempore Toni Atkins and Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon announced appointments to legislative and budget committees for the 2021-22 Legislative Session. Of note, Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon formed the Committee on Emergency Management which will be chaired by Assembly Member Freddie Rodriguez. Below, we highlight committees of interest to…
Read More »On Monday, both houses of the California Legislature met to convene the 2021-2022 legislative session. These sessions are ceremonial in nature and begin with swearing in newly elected members and legislative officers into their positions. Usually, these affairs include members and their families on the floor of the respective houses with much fanfare. Given the…
Read More »On Monday, December 7, the California Legislature will convene in Sacramento to formally commence the 2021-22 Legislative Session. During Monday’s session, elected lawmakers will be sworn into the Senate and Assembly. Notably, the desk will open on Monday, allowing Senators and Assembly Members to introduce their first measures of the new legislative session. Given the…
Read More »This week, the California Legislature convened several oversight and informational hearings on the impacts of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, as well as healthcare costs in California. Below, we briefly summarize these hearings. COVID-19 Impacts on Foster Care The Senate Human Services Committee convened an informational hearing on Monday to explore the COVID-19 impacts on the…
Read More »On Tuesday, the Assembly Budget Subcommittee No. 6 on Budget Process, Oversight, and Program Evaluation and the Assembly Committee on Governmental Organization convened a joint informational hearing to receive an update on California’s response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The hearing featured an overview of the state’s operational efforts to contain the pandemic, investments in…
Read More »The Assembly Health Committee convened this week to explore California’s Health Information Exchange (HIE) landscape. Members of the Committee heard from several experts who discussed how HIE works currently in California, federal and state policy that has shaped HIE systems, what other states have done to build HIE capacity, and options for California to consider…
Read More »This week, the California State Senate and Assembly convened separate oversight hearings to explore the COVID-19-related impacts on education and distance learning, as well as skilled nursing facilities (SNFs). Below, brief summaries of the hearings are provided. Senate Joint Oversight Hearing on Distance Learning On Monday, the Senate Education Committee and Senate Special Committee on…
Read More »On Tuesday, the Assembly Health Committee, chaired by Assembly Member Jim Wood, convened a lengthy afternoon hearing to hear from a series of experts on health care affordability in California. Five panels covered topics such as health care spending in the state, health care cost drivers, the availability of health data in the state, health…
Read More »This week, the Senate Health Committee convened an informational hearing entitled “The Affordable Care Act in Jeopardy: What does it mean for California?” bringing together several experts and consumers to discuss what would happen in California if the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is struck down by the US Supreme Court. The hearing featured several panels…
Read More »On Wednesday, the Senate Special Committee on Pandemic Emergency Response convened an oversight hearing on workplace health and safety issues during the COVID-19 pandemic. The hearing featured two panels with the first focused on state activities related to prevention, outbreaks, and enforcement activities from representatives of the California Department of Industrial Relations (DIR), California Division…
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